A River to Die For (Something to Die for Mysteries) by Radine Trees Nehring

Something to Die For #5

by Radine Trees Nehring

Carrie’s husband Henry plans an anniversary the two of them will join Carrie’s son Rob and Henry’s half-sister Catherine for a camping trip at the Buffalo National River. When Rob and Catherine disappear, Carrie, her friend Shirley, and Henry help search for them. A River to Die For features strong women fighting against literal darkness underground as well as the dark forces of evil. It will take strength to read this book about the best and worst that nature and man can throw at a woman. It will take a caring heart to understand how Henry King and Rob McCrite feel as they struggle to reach the women they love. This is the fifth book in Nehring’s Something to Die For mystery series.

Paperback

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

For more than twenty years, Radine Trees Nehring's magazine features, essays, newspaper articles, and radio broadcasts have been sharing colorful stories about the people, places, events, and natural world near her Arkansas home. She's also the author of a book of essays set in the Ozarks. "DEAR EARTH: A Love Letter from Spring Hollow" was published in 1995.

"Until I began to write about Carrie McCrite, I'd dealt only in facts," she says. "What fun it is to take those facts and the settings I love, add people entangled in problems and seeking answers to important life questions, and come up with mystery fiction that shares my world with readers everywhere."

Nehring's research takes her to the places her characters go. She's visited Arkansas tourist destinations, hiked hills and hollows, crawled through caves, spent time in jail (while training for the jail ministry), and--as a news reporter--interviewed officials in every branch of law enforcement. She and her husband John live in the Arkansas Ozarks.

Nehring's major at Principia College in Illinois was Fine Arts. She's done post-graduate work in English and creative writing at the University of Tulsa, and in the University of Iowa Summer Writing Program.

Reviews

[Ellen Behrens · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a tricky thing to write a series of novels featuring the same characters -- how do you orient new readers without giving too much away about earlier books and without boring those who've been with the series all the way through? Radine Trees Nehring seems to have found the right balance because I jumped in with the fifth in her Something to Die For Mystery series without ever feeling as though I was crashing a party I hadn't been invited to attend (as I have with some other series' novels).

Though I prefer starting with the first in a series, this one appealed to me because it starts with what seems like a relaxing camping trip along the Buffalo National River in Arkansas. I'm not a camper (not all full-time RVers consider themselves campers) but oddball nextdoor neighbors in places like this one are familiar territory, which makes any novel more intriguing than it might otherwise be.

Not that this book needed help. Nehring has landed on some substantial ground here: nefarious folks involved in illegal enterprises near national lands. Kidnapping. Murder. New love. New marriage. Tensions. Good friends. A plot that seems to lay itself out as flat as a river flows, but not without a turn or two along the way.

It's all here, and then some.

I needed to warm up to Carrie, who might be the main character (hard to say as the book is told from multiple points of view), because she seemed so self-absorbed in the early chapters. Her son seemed even more distant, though eventually, as things were revealed about his life, I came to understand why.

It's to Nehring's credit that she's created characters this realistic. Unfortunately, some of the dialogue tended to fall into monologue. Characters were very polite with each other about not interrupting these long speeches, but I kept hoping someone would do or say something that would give these sections a little more dimension. The other nit I'd pick is how often and in how much detail the characters explained what had happened to each other. A bit of narrative summary would have moved these spots along more quickly, helping the overall pace.

This is more of a suspense novel than a mystery, with plenty of local history and scenery to make the fictional situation come to life.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the last of my ARKANSAS Trilogy and it was the best of the bunch. Possibly the author has gotten better with each book?? and of course I was now able to ignore the bible thumping from the main character! Perhaps it was because the main charater was not featured as much? The story revolved around the professor son, her new husband and his step-sister (love interest of the son). So "Deliverence"!! A good story that moved fast. And of courde I did learn about the Buffalo National River in AR, it does sound like a great area to camp, explore and visit!!

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the "To Die For" series by Radine Trees Nehring--Carrie is a fiesty senior who always ends up in the middle of something dangerous and there's the added bonus of some great recipes at the end of the book!!

[Radine Nehring · Rating 5 out of 5]

Information about archeological treasures and wonderful friend and male-female relationships

[Kathy]

I really enjoy the Carrie and Henry + friends books. Although mysteries, they are about good friends and the power that ladies possess!

[Kitty Tomlinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carrie's son, Rob, and Henry's half sister, Catherine, disappear while on a camping trip at the Buffalo National River in Arkansas.

[John Bohnert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the best book in the whole series.